2013 Scion FR-S Arrival

Six Months of Wide Open Throttle

Three thousand and five hundred. That's how many miles the Wide Open Throttle crew -- you know, only the most awesome car news blog on the Web -- put on the Motor Trend garage's new 2013 Scion FR-S in just three weeks.

The quick-witted among you might note that we've already got a Subaru BRZ in the garage, so why add a virtually identical FR-S? Easy -- Scion offered us a six-month loan, and the online crew is slightly younger than the rest of the print staff, ranging from 23 (hi, Mom!) to 33 years old. So, at an average age of 28 years young, we're the FR-S' target demographic.

Seeing as the FR-S' option list is about as deep as Justin Bieber's lyrics, spec'ing-out our Firestorm Red tester was pretty easy. Available in just one trim, our FR-S came equipped with a six-speed manual transmission standard. We skipped just about everything else, save for the $395 paint protection film and $69 rear bumper applique, bringing our FR-S' total to a millennial-friendly $25,419, including destination.

Our FR-S' interior has exactly zero options, but with standard sport seats and Bluetooth audio streaming, what else do you need?

So what are we going to do with our new FR-S? Hood rat stuff with our friends. We're going to drive the wheels off our FR-S (figuratively, of course), enter it in local autocross events and track days, and take some road trips. Lots of road trips - as I write this, our FR-S is bombing around the hills of San Francisco. The weekend before that it took me to NorCal to visit my lovely girlfriend in Redding, Calif., and prior to that, our little Scion took on the biggest little city in the world.Along the way we plan on having a bit of fun with our new FR-S with some aftermarket modifications. We'll be avoiding body kits and wings that would appeal to the "Fast and the Furious" crowd, but an aftermarket head unit, new lightweight wheels with sticky rubber, and a freer-flowing exhaust are on our bucket list. Want more news about our FR-S? Stay tuned at wot.motortrend.com, and follow along on Twitter @MotorTrend#MTGarage.

Heard they will not put a turbo nor a supercharger in the Scion FR-S and BRZ. Toyota is against it since they are going to intro back the Supra in 2015 model year. That will have the turbo in it and have the features of this car too.

I like the idea of the car more than the actual car. Small, light, good-looking. but then - Whats up with the 55/45 weight distribution? That's pickup truck-ville. 151 lb ft of torque is no fun. A turbo will fix the torque deficit, but that 55/45 weight distribution is ....bad. The reviewers seem to love the way it drives so maybe the numbers aren't telling the whole story.

I second Barbarian - comparo with the RX-8! Regarding the question of power, consider the acceleration is on the order of the Ferrari 308. And then pinch yourself over the awesome automotive selection we have in today's new cars.

Went to the local annual auto show a few weeks ago, and I swear this FR-S has the absolute best-feeling shifter out of every manual gearbox in the whole place, even better than every Miata I've sampled. Would love to actually test drive one sometime.

The solution to the underpowered and perfectly sprung FRS/BRZ is...leave it as is.. however...do an old trick that Toyota did with the Celica..extend the wheelbase especially in the front of the car to make room for a 305 hp V6 from the Lexus IS. This time, a new body style and interior is in order and to sell it maybe $10,000.00 more should make this model the one we really want. The regular FRS can still attract buyers given it low volume exclusivity ( a ploy to drive up interest I think) while the BRZ should bulge the hood and drop in their 2.0L turbo motor. That would make enough room..in fact, bulge the entire hood 1 or 2 inches higher should do the trick...there! FRS/BRZ and a new Supra and CRZ? - no that's a honda..a new Supra and a new BRZ GT...!

It's a pretty little car. I see one in the lot at my office, all covered with salt already, but not every young person can garage a car through the winter, so that's understandable. Wish it was just a little lighter, but as it is, that's plenty of power. Seems there are lots of commenters here who pose as elite drivers and want everything turbocharged, though in fact some must still be wearing braces and have a learner's permit and would wrap an FRS around a tree on their first drive, if in fact they could shift it.

The torqueless wonder strikes again for 2013. "But it looks good and it handles great so that's ok". Oy. :) Crassness aside, I'm looking forward to these getting on in the years so I can find them preowned. Then, maybe then I will consider one and mod the hell out of it. In the meantime, I'll enjoy snacking on them in my Mustang and my mom's minivan. (The last part was mainly meant to be humorous).